Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos

The cloister of Santo Domingo de Silos, Northern Spain, 11th-12th century. (For more information about the building see Paradox Place).

In countries like Spain, warm weather meant that the arcades of the cloisters could remain open (unglazed). This enabled the use of arcaded columns such as the ones seen here. In places like Durham, where the cloisters needed to be glazed, they usually took the form of rows of large windows instead - an example of how climate can affect the way in which the same architectural feature is expressed.